UBS fined $8.2 million by Singapore for misconduct by advisers

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said that UBS’s advisers engaged in acts that deceived or were likely to deceive its clients about the spreads and prices on bond and structured product transations.

shutterstock/Mino Surkala

Singapore’s regulator fined UBS Group SGD 11.2 million ($8.2 million) for misconduct by its advisers that included overcharging clients for trades, reported Bloomberg.

Ong Chong Tee, MAS Deputy Managing Director, said, “The conduct of UBS through its representatives is unacceptable and has no place in the financial services industry where trust and integrity are paramount.”

The regulator’s action follows a penalty imposed on UBS in Hong Kong earlier last week for systematically overcharging private banking clients by manipulating the price on bond and structured product trades. According to the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission, to hide the charges, UBS sometimes falsified account statements by misreporting the spread amounts for the trades.

MAS said that the Singapore penalty is related to transactions executed from 2014 onwards, though UBS has undertaken to compensate all affected clients for misconduct between 2008 and 2017.

UBS said the latest fine resolves a matter it had self-identified and reported to regulators in Hong Kong and Singapore. The lender added that it was limited to a small percentage of all transactions processed by the bank during the period.

The MAS said investigations into the individuals involved in the misconduct are continuing.

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